Dryer repair - start at the vent, not the dryer

What is dryer repair?

If your dryer runs but clothes come out damp, check the exhaust duct before you book anything. A restricted vent traps heat and moisture inside the machine, so it dries badly, runs hot, and eventually trips a safety device - all of which looks like a broken dryer and is not one. Restriction is also a fire hazard, because what is packed in the duct is lint. Only after the vent is proven clear does it make sense to suspect the heating element, the gas igniter, or the drum drive.

Signs you need dryer repair

• Loads need two or three cycles to dry, and the machine used to manage one
• The top of the dryer, the door glass or the laundry room itself gets noticeably hot while it runs
• You cannot feel strong airflow at the outdoor vent hood while the machine is running, or the flap never opens
• Clothes come out hot but still damp - heat is being made, not carried away
• A burning or hot-lint smell during or just after a cycle
• Loud thumping, squealing or a rhythmic scraping that tracks with drum rotation

Seeing something not on this list? Browse appliance repair problems by symptom →

How dryer repair actually works

1. 1

   The exhaust duct, before anything is priced

   A technician who knows this appliance starts at the wall. The whole run gets checked - the flexible transition behind the machine, the rigid duct through the wall or roof, the bends, the length, and the outdoor hood flap. Crushed foil transition ducts behind a pushed-back dryer, and hoods stuck shut with lint or a bird nest, are both extremely common.

   Watch forA part quoted before the duct has been inspected end to end. Replacing a fuse or element on a restricted vent gets you a working dryer for a few weeks and the same call again.

2. 2

   Airflow and lint, treated as a safety issue

   Lint accumulates over the whole run, not just at the screen, and packs tightest at bends and at the hood. That is combustible material in a hot air path. Cleaning is done with brushes and a vacuum along the full length, and the fix often includes swapping flexible foil transition duct for smooth rigid metal.

   Watch forPlastic or vinyl transition duct. It is not permitted for dryer exhaust in most jurisdictions, it collapses behind the machine, and it is exactly the material you do not want holding lint in a heat path.

3. 3

   No heat at all - electric versus gas

   The two machines fail differently. An electric dryer makes heat with a resistive element on a dedicated 240-volt supply, and it can lose half its supply and still tumble without heating - which is why a tripped half-breaker imitates a dead element perfectly. A gas dryer heats with an igniter, a gas valve and a flame sensor, and the igniter is the usual culprit. The two need different diagnoses and sometimes different technicians.

   Watch forAn electric dryer that tumbles but never heats being quoted an element without the breaker and supply being tested. Both legs of the 240-volt circuit have to be live.

4. 4

   Thermal fuses and thermostats - the symptom, not the disease

   Every dryer has one-shot thermal safety devices designed to cut power when the cabinet overheats. When one opens, it has done its job. Replacing it restores the machine, and if nothing else changes it will open again, because the overheating that blew it is still there. The fuse is nearly always downstream of restricted airflow.

   Watch forA fuse replaced with no vent work and no explanation of why it blew. Ask directly what caused it. If the answer is "they just go", find someone else.

5. 5

   Drum rollers, belts, glides and bearings

   Mechanical noise is its own category and has nothing to do with heat. Worn rollers grind, a snapped belt leaves the motor running with a stationary drum, and worn glides let the drum scrape the bulkhead. Cheap parts, labour-heavy to reach, so a good technician replaces the wear set together rather than one item at a time.

   Watch forOne roller replaced on a machine where the others are equally worn. You pay the same disassembly labour again in a few months for the sake of a small parts saving.

What does dryer repair cost?

Vent cleaning is the cheapest thing you can buy for a dryer and often the only thing needed. Igniters, thermal fuses, belts and rollers are modest parts, though labour reflects the strip-down to reach them. Confirm whether the diagnostic charge is deducted from the final bill.

See the full dryer repair cost guide - by material, size and region →

If the number is the problem, here are the ways people pay for it →